feeling.” The omega looked up at Trud, capturing her gaze with an intensity that surprised me. “It has to be me. But they need you here. Asgard needs you.”
“No.” This time, the denial came from Magni, his voice so dark it took me a second to recognize it. “You’re going nowhere, Annabel. You’re never leaving my side again.”
“Magni, I have to. To save you,” she whispered, raising her hand to his bearded cheek. After how feral she’d seemed so far, it surprised me to see such tenderness, and it warmed my disposition toward her… a little.
“You don’t. I won’t let you. Trud is a very capable sorceress and much more experienced than you. Your place is here, with me.”
“And me,” Saga said, but even though his tone was salty, there was no hiding the jealousy in his eyes as he stared at the two. It dawned on me that this fucked-up union of theirs probably wasn’t entirely peaceful.
Annabel tipped her head to lean against her Jotunn mate’s shoulder without releasing Magni’s face. “I don’t want to leave either of you, but this is something I have to do. It has to be me.”
“Why?” Saga demanded. “Why does it have to be you? The Asa can defend herself. You are ours to protect, Annabel.”
“I don’t know why,” she said, furrowing her brow. “Why did it have to be me you mated? Why did the Norn weave my thread into this mess? I don’t know—and neither do you. But I feel it in my bones, Saga. I have to go. If I don’t…”
She shuddered. “Verdandi showed me what will happen if I don’t follow my fate, and I’m not going to let that happen. I’m not going to let everyone die—least of all you two. We’ll find Loki. You will have to search for Mimir here while we’re away.”
“Wait… Mimir?” I interrupted. “Why are you looking for Mimir here?”
“He wasn’t in his well. Some dark creature was,” Magni said, finally releasing his grip on the omega to rub his arm. “The Norn told us to find him.”
“Verdandi?” I opened my mouth to suggest my brother needed to stop listening to hermits with too much free time on their hands, but Trud cut me off with another look.
“If Mimir’s not in his well, he should be somewhere here in Valhalla,” she said, before taking in a deep breath as she refocused on the omega. “I’ve seen you, sister—you are touched by Fate, and if Fate now calls for you to follow my brother and the Jotunn in search of Loki, then that’s what has to happen. I will stay here and help them search for Mimir.”
“Thank you,” the omega said. She reached out for Trud, but Saga instantly wrapped himself around her tighter, constricting both her arms against her body.
“Annabel, no. Please, no.”
The desperate plea in his voice shocked me to the core. He sounded so… vulnerable. The idea that one of Loki’s sons would allow himself to be seen like this by me, an enemy, made just an inkling of pity worm its way into my chest.
“Saga,” she whispered, pressing her forehead to his chest. She didn’t say anything else, but the emotions playing across the Jotunn alpha’s face spoke louder than words could have: fear, sorrow… and finally, acceptance.
“Damn that fucking Norn!” he hissed as he nuzzled against the top of her head.
“If it wasn’t for her, we’d never have met,” the omega reminded him. “Wouldn’t that be worse?”
“Yes,” he sighed. “It would. There’s nothing without you, sweetling. I wouldn’t care if the world burns. I… love you.”
I cleared my throat and looked away, embarrassed for the once-fierce alpha who’d clearly suffered a lobotomy along with his mating. The dark-haired Jotunn with the mismatched eyes looked just as uncomfortable as I felt and was also doing his best to pretend like he wasn’t there—but Bjarni stared at the omega, longing and envy plain on his big, stupid face.
Gods, that idiot wanted to be part of their sick little love triangle? Well, he had all days been the dumb one of the bunch. Even the Fenris wolf was smarter than him.
“Well, if we’re gonna find that slimy father of yours, we best get going,” I said before the omega could respond to Saga’s declaration. If she was going to answer. The way she’d lowered those long, dark lashes to avoid looking at his face suggested she wasn’t too sure.
Which was apparently fortunate, because Magni looked like he’d just swallowed a spider, the